Method and apparatus for cementing shoe soles to extended welt shoes



P 1968 J. H. KELLY 3,375,536

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING SHOE SOLES TO EXTENDED WELT SHOES Filed Dec. 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVTOR.

don/v 740 Apnfi 2, 1968 J. H. KELLY 3,375,536

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING SHOE SOLES TO EXTENDED WELT SHOES Filed Dec. 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F g 4 area INVENTOR.

v lam/Elan Unite States Patent ()fitice 3,375,536 Patented Apr. 2, 1968 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for adhesively securing a shoe sole to a welt, externally of the body of the shoe, wherein, after application of ad hesive and preliminary arrangement of the sole in position against the welt and light adhesion thereto, the assembly of sole and welt is inserted between presser jaws projecting laterally from pressure-transmitting members, and successive pressure impulses are then applied to the projecting peripheral areas of welt and sole, in narrow areas overlapping one another, while light dragging engagement of the welt and sole between the jaws is maintained during the intervals in which the impulse pressure is relaxed, the operator maintaining a light forward push against the work sufiicient to overcome such drag during the relaxation intervals, whereby the work is advanced a short distance during each such interval without scooting (moving freely beyond the short step of advancing movement required for the successive overlapping positions of pressure application).

This invention relates to the manufacture and repair of shoes and has as its general object to provide an improved method and apparatus for attaching soles to shoe uppers by cementing without the use of stitching. This type of construction has "become .fairly common in Womens shoes and has been developed to a stage where womens shoes of such construction have proved satis factory. However, in the manufacture of mens shoes, the use of cementing as the only means for securing an outsole to an extended edge welt shoe has not proven satisfactory up to the present time. Accordingly, a particular object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus by which extended edge welt shoes can be satisfactorily manufactured, using a cement bond as the only means for attaching a sole to the welt of the shoe.

A very important aspect of the invention resides in the horn construction, wherein the outward tip of the horn assumes pressure-applying areas (with reference to the fixed horizontal face of the presser foot) of varying area and position, by simple rotation of the horn, whereby to provide for internal work (inside of the shoe) and external work (outside of the shoe).

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus which can be used successfully (l) for cementing an outsole to the welt of a mans shoe or other extended edge welt type shoe; (2) for cementing an outsole to the upper of a Womans shoe or other shoe of a McKay type or slip-lasted construction or of a moccasin or other type having no welt; and (3) seam-ironing the counter and vamp of a shoe.

These and other objects will become a parent in the ensuing specification and appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a machine utilized in practicing my improved method, a portion of the housing of the machine being removed;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the same, omitting the springs of the impulse-transmitting mechanism and showing the presser foot mounting head in axial section;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an external pressure-applying operation on welt-type shoe;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing the relationship between the presser foot and the pressure horn in the operation of FIG. 3; 1

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the application of the invention to an internal type sole-upper pressure-applying operation;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing the relationship between the presser foot and the pressure horn in the operation of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating the application of the invention to seam-ironing the counter section of a shoe; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the relationship of the presser foot and horn in the operation of FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, I have shown therein, as an example of one form of apparatus suitable for the practice of the invention, a welt press comprising, in general, a housing and frame structure A; an adjustable support B for a presser foot C; a reciprocable horn D for applying a series of pressure impulses to a shoe being processed; a piston and spring assembly E for transmitting cushioned pressure pulses to the horn D; and a motor and crank shaft assembly F for developing reciprocating movement which is transmitted to spring assembly E to develop the pressure impulses.

The pressure impulses are transmitted to the shoe by pressure jaws 34 and 43 on foot C and horn -D respectively, the horn D being pivotally adjustable around a vertical pressure axis 44 to the several positions shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 8 respectively.

In womens cement shoe construction, pressure-bonding is achieved by clamping the assembly of sole and upper (with interposed coats of cement) in a sole-attaching machine (press) which simultaneously applies pressure to the entire area of the outsole, from heel to toe of the shoe. This method cannot be successfully applied to mens extended-edge welt shoes. v

The method The method of the present invention has been developed as the result of a need for a successful method of cement attachment of outsoles to extended-edge Welt shoes which need has been recognized in the industry for a number of years past. Illustrative of this fact, at a shoe factory management conference several years prior to this invention by manufacturers of mens welt shoes, the possibility of cement-attachment of outso-les to extendededge welt shoes was discussed against the recognized fact that cement-attachment was being used successfully in the manufacture of fine womens shoes. It was believed that cement-attachment, if it could be successfully utilized on extended-edge welt shoes, would producea strong permanent bond, would provide better shape-retention throughout the life of the shoes, because of the greater secured area extending from inseam 'rib to welt edge, and would provide better appearance of the bottoms.

The present invention attains successful sole-to-extended-edge welt shoe bonding by providing for the application of pressure in a series of overlapping pressure impulses intermittently applied to the assembly of outsole and welt after application of a suitable cement between the surfaces to be bonded. The pressure impulses'are cushioned so as to avoid damage to the shoe structure, and the invention accordingly provides a series of gentle but powerful, rapid, intermittent flexible pressure impulses each applied vertically (transverse to the general plane of the outsole) to a small area of the welt and sole while the shoe is in a stationary position. In the intervals between successive impulses, the pressure is released and the shoe is fed forwardly a small increment of the welt periphery, such that the next successive pressure impulse will be applied to an area overlapping a substantial portion of the area of the immediately preceding pressure impulse. The release of pressure between impulses is not such as to completely free the interposed welt and sole portions from frictional contact with the pressure-applying surfaces, such surfaces remaining in contact with the interposed work parts sufficiently to provide an apprecable drag or resistance to the forward feed of the work between the pressure-applying surfaces so that the extent of forward feed between strokes can be regulated by the operator by the extent of gentle pressure he applies to the shoe in the direction of feed; yet such drag is not sufficient to develop any stresses in the bond area along the shoe perimeter. Consequently, the bonding operation of my method does not disturb the fibers of a leather sole or stretch the perimeter of a rubber sole, but leaves them at rest in their natural state despite the fact that an accumulated pressure exceeding tons is applied to the bonded area of welt and sole on the average size mens shoe.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 3 illustrates the cement-attachment of an outsole S to the extended welt W of a shoe upper indicated fragmentarily at U, the insole and inseam rib of the shoe being indicated at I and R respectively. Preparatory to the pressure-bonding operation, coatings of a permanent type sole attaching adhesive of the neoprene type as commonly used in the cementing of womens shoes, are applied to the outer face of the welt W from the inseam rib R outwardly to the outer margin thereof, and to the corresponding area of the outsole S, and the coated parts are subsequently properly registered and preliminarily assembled by contact-attachment. The adhesive will become dry to the touch shortly after being applied in liquid form but two coatings of the same, when brought together in contacting relation, will adhere to one another, and will form a permanent bond when subjected to adequate pressure.

After preliminarily attaching the sole to the welt as described above, the opposed portions of welt and sole are inserted between the jaws of the presser foot C and the horn D after adjusting the latter to the position shown in FIG. 3. In this position the jaws are so related that, with the presser foot toe 33 bottomed in the crease 45, the area of contact of the horn jaw 43 extends from directly under the inseam rib R outwardly to the sole margin, whereby the pressure impulses will be applied to the outsole S throughout the width of the cemented area, and opposing pressure will be applied by the presser foot jaw 34 throughout the width of the welt W. The area of pressure application is indicated by shading and the legend pressure area in FIG. 4. The extended adjacent areas of the welt are indicated in phantom at W in FIG. 4.

The pressing operation is started at a suitable point along the outsole perimeter as selected by the Operator, e.g. adjacent the heel breast at one side of the shoe, and is extended along the welt perimeter in a series of pressure impulses in overlapping local areas corresponding to the width of the pressure horn jaw 43. Referring now to FIG. 4, it may be noted that the horn jaw 43, throughout its length, is cut away on one side thereof as indicated at 46 so as to be narrower than the presser foot jaw 34, the length of the pressure impulse, along the perimeter of the Welt, being determined by the narrower width of the horn jaw, while the wider face of the presser foot jaw 34 supports the upper face of the welt W in a manner to avoid any marking of the welt as a result of the pressure impulses.

In positioning the welt portion of the shoe between the jaws C, D for starting a pressing operation, the operator first opens the jaws by adjusting the presser foot C upwardly, then inserts the welt and sole portions between the jaws, then adjusts the presser foot C downwardly to engage the welt and sole portions between the jaws until it is tightly clamped as determined by the feel of the adjusting mechanism B in the hand of the operator, the adjusting mechanism is then backed off to an extent determined by a selected portion of a turn of its adjusting screw, (e.g. a quarter turn) leaving the welt portion of the shoe lightly engaged between the jaws 34, 43 with a frictional engagement such as to, provide a satisfactory amount of. drag resistance to forward feed during the i and the forward pressure applied by the operator. It will be understood that the operator, in learning to use the apparatus, will determine this relationship, i.e., how much pressure to apply in relation to the amount of drag that is set up by his adjustment of the presser foot C at the beginning of the pressing operation, so as to achieve the correct extent of feed.

Having inserted and adjusted the welt portion of the shoe between the jaws, as determined by the relationship between drag of the presser jaws and forward feed pressure by the operator, and havingstarted the bonding operation, the operator applies a gentle forward pressure to the shoe so as to feed the welt between the presser jaws along the welt perimeter in a series of short feeding movements occurring in the intervals when the upward pressure of the horn D is relaxed. The welt portion of the shoe is fed forwardly approximately 3 inch during each interval .of pressure relaxation. The area of pressure contact as determined by pressure horn jaw 43 is in the range of inch to inch. Thus each local pressure area will overlap approximately percent of the preceding pressure area, so that each increment of perimeter of the welt portion will receive up to 9 or 10 pressure impulses. A pressure of approximately 250 pounds, deter mined by springs 53 of yielding pressure transmission means E, is applied in each stroke. The pressure cannot exceed this value since it is limited by the yield limit of transmission means E.

The apparatus Housing-frame structure A includes a frame post 10 rising from a table top 11 through which the reciprocating drive is transmitted to the horn D; a plurality of frame I legs including the lower portion of post 10 and additional legs 12, extending upwardly from a support plane to the table top '11; a transverse motor supporting shelf 13; and a crank shaft bearing support 14 extending upwardly from the shelf 13 to the table top 11. A suitable skirt structure 15, which may include a removable side panel (not shown) enclosesthe mechanism E, F.

The adjustable presser foot support B comprises a bracket 20 attached to the upper end of post 10 and having a cylindrical bearing sleeve 21 as an integral portion thereof; an end bearing cap 22 secured to the upper end .of sleeve 21; a presser foot support bar 23 vertically slidable in the sleeve 21 and held against rotation by a key 24 slidably engaged in a keyway 25 in one side thereof, the bar 23 having an internally threaded bore 26 so as to function as a tubular nut; an adjusting screw 27 threaded into the bore 26 and having an integral reduced stem 28 extending through and rotatable in a central aperture in cap 22; and an adjusting crank 29 secured to the upper end of the stem 28 and operable to rotate the screw 27 so as to effect vertical adjustment .of the bar 23 in the sleeve 21.

Presser foot C includes a horizontal arm 31 secured to the lower end of its support bar 23, a diagonally downwardly extending arm 32, and a toe 33, and a flat jaw 34 (pressure face) on its underside for engagement with one side of the work, to function as an anvil for solidly supporting the work while a series of pressure impulses is delivered to the opposite side ofthe work by the horn D. The toe 33 is formed as a relatively thin projection extending horizontally from the end of arm 32 and providing one extremity of the jaw 34, and is of suflicient thinness to project substantially the full. width of the top surface of a shoe welt beneath the overhanging upper in the incurved shank area.

Pressure horn D comprises a horizontal arm secured to the upper end of a shaft 4 1 constituting a portion of the yielding reciprocal movement transmitting assembly E; and an arcuate arm 42 extending upwardly from the outer end of arm 40 and terminating in a tapered pressure-applying jaw 43 having a fiat horizontal upper face for applying pressure.

The shaft 41 is rotatably mounted in the frame structure A on a vertical axis 44 which extends through the tips of the presser foot 31 and the presser jaw 43 of the horn D. When the horn D is adjusted to the position for seam ironing as in FIG. 7, the tip of the presser foot jaw projects over the tip of the horn jaw, and the pressure faces of the foot 31 and jaw 43 are in opposed relation for a majority of their areas. When the horn D is adjusted to the position for external bonding of an outsole to a shoe welt, as in FIG. 3, only the tip portions of the jaws 31 and 43 are in overlapping, opposed relation, and the pressure impulses applied by the jaw 43 are substantially centered beneath the end of the presser foot toe 3-3 rather than beneath the center of the presser foot face 34. In this position of adjustment, the horn D has been moved 180 degrees from its position of FIG. 7. The axis 44 of pressure application intersects the shoe welt approximately midway of the width thereof, and the toe 33 of the presser foot extends substantially full depth into the crease 45 between the shoe upper and the welt.

When the horn D is adjusted to the position for internal work as in FIG. 5, at 90 degrees between the positions of FIG. 3 and FIG. 7, the presser foot 31 and horn D will intersect the pressure axis 44 at right angles to one another (FIG. 6) with their tips in overlapping, opposed relation.

The distance between the tip of presser foot toe 33 to pressure axis 44 being less than half the width of horn D in the body thereof, the jaw 43 is cut away along one side thereof at 46 to position that side of the jaw in registry with the tip of toe 33 for internal or close edge work, as shown in FIG. 6. Thus the presser foot jaw 34 can extend to the outer margin of the sole while the cutaway side 40 of the horn jaw is engaged against the inner surface of the shoe upper U as indicated in FIG. 5.

The area of pressure application, indicated by the legend and shading in FIG. 6 extends along the registering tip margin and side margin of the presser foot toe 33 and horn jaw cutout 46 respectively.

For seam-ironing (FIGS. 7 and 8) the jaws 34, 43 are in full-area opposition, and the horn D is in a position extending to one side of the operator to provide clearance space to receive the shoe and the operators hand as the shoe is swung downwardly on either side of the mid-position of ironing shown in FIG. 7. The operator stands facing the front (seen in FIG. 1) of the machine.

The area of pressure application, indicated by the legend and shading in FIG. 8, is bounded on three sides by the margin of pressure horn jaw 43, the toe 33 of the presser foot C projecting beyond the pressure area.

Yielding transmission mechanism E comprises the presser horn shaft 41 which is vertically reciprocable in a bushing 50 carried by the upper end of a C-shaped bracket 51 secured to the frame post 16, the shaft 41 having secured to its lower end a spring seat disk 52 which engages the upper end of a yielding stroke-transmitting coil spring 53. The lower end of the spring 53- is seated upon a spring seat disk 54 secured to the upper end of a piston 55 the lower end of which is seated on a disk head 54 on the upper end of a piston 55 which is vertically reciprocable in a bushing 56 in the lower arm of bracket 51. End portions of shaft 41 and piston 55, projecting beyond their respective heads 52 and 54 are piloted in the respective ends of spring 53. A return spring 57 encircles the portion of shaft 41 extending below bearing 50 and is engaged under compression between the bearing 50 and the seat 52 for returning the horn D downwardly after an upward reciprocating movement thereof. Piston 55 extends below the bearing 56 and is provided on its lower end with a fork 57 which is coupled by a wrist pin 58 to the eye of a connecting rod 59' which carries an eccentric ring bearing 60 forming part of the drive mechanism F. A return spring 61 is engaged under compression between the bearing 56 and the fork 57, for returning the piston 55 to a lower limit position after each upward stroke imparted thereto by the drive mechanism F.

Drive mechanism F comprises a motor 65 having a base mounted on the motor mount shelf 13, a shaft 66 mounted in bearings 67 and 68 carried by the post 10 and the bearing support-14 respectively; drive and driven pulleys 69 and 70 respectively on the motor shaft and eccentric shaft 66; belt 71 connecting the pulleys; and eccentric 72 formed integrally with shaft 66, and eccentric ring bearing 60 of the connecting rod 59.

The operation of the apparatus has been described in general terms in the preceding description of the method. More specifically, with reference to the adjusting mechanism B, the rotation of crank 29 in one direction will cause the screw 27 to enter the threaded bore 26 so as to elevate the presser foot C, and rotation-of the crank 29 in the opposite direction will cause the screw to withdraw from the bar 23, forcing the foot C downwardly. In both operations the bar 23 is held against rotation by the key 24 which however permits free vertical sliding movement of the bar.

In the operation of the eccentric drive mechanism F, rotation of eccentric shaft 66, driven by motor 65, will transmit reciprocation through connecting rod 59 and piston 55 to yielding pressure transmitting spring 53. Spring 53 will absorb the reciprocating movements of piston 55 to substantially the full extent of their amplitude, and will convert these movements into pressure impulses which are transmitted through shaft 41 and horn D to the shoe outsole, compressing the welt portion of the shoe upwardly against the presser foot jaw 34 which, being rigidly supported, does not yield. To the extent that the aggregate thickness of the welt portion of the shoe is reduced under its compression between the jaws, the reciprocation of piston 55 will be reproduced in the horn D, but the amplitude of reciprocation of the horn is so small that it can hardly be detected.

The coil spring 53 being a compression spring and accordingly having a fairly high spring rate, the pressure impulses will be of constantly varying intensity, starting at a minimum value corresponding to the light frictional engagement of the welt portion between the jaws in the periods of pressure relaxation and rising gradually to a maximum at the top of the stroke of piston 55, and then receding back to the minimum as the piston 55 returns downwardly. Thus the pressure impulses, instead of having the characteristic of separated hammer blows, are aggregated together in a continuous pulsating grip of the welt portion between the pressure jaws with a continuous half-wave form pressure (approximately half-sinusoidal) which provides for maximum bonding effectiveness together with maximum ease of operation by the workman in feeding the welt portion between the jaws. Although the pressure is continuous in the sense that the pressure impulses are connected by the feeding intervals of light frictional drag, it is to be understood that the pressure is almost completely relaxed in these intervals, sufficiently so as to avoid dragging of the work fibers in the direction of feed.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for effecting permanent attachment of an outsole to a shoe welt, comprising: a frame; power operated means carried by said frame for developing a series of reciprocating movements; at positive rate compression spring having one end receiving said reciprocating movements; at presser head member acted upon by the other end of said compression spring and receiving therefrom a plurality of pressure impulses derived from the reciprocating movements delivered to said one end of the spring, said presser head member having a jaw for transmitting said pressure impulses to one side of the welt portion of a shoe comprising the shoe welt and an opposed portion of the outsole; a presser foot having a jaw arranged to engage the opposite side of said welt portion for compressing the same in response to said pressure impulses; aligned means for transmitting pressure to said presser members, and means for effecting relative adjustment of said pressers, one toward the other, said presser members projecting laterally from the common axis of said pressure-trans mitting means.

2 A method of effecting permanent attachment of an outsole to a shoe welt, comprising the following steps: assembling the outsole to the welt with cement interposed between the face of the welt and the opposed surface of the outsole; utilizing the preliminary attachment provided by said cement to hold the outsole and welt in properly registering assembly during subsequent processing; inserting a localized area of the welt portion of the shoe composed of the welt and the opposed externally projecting portion of the sole, between a pair of pressure-applying jaws projecting laterally from pressure transmitting members on which said jaws are carried; holding one of said jaws rigidly in a stationary position while applying a series of connected pressure pulses of varying intensity with interposed intervals of pressure relaxation in which said jaws continue to engage said welt portion lightly so as to provide a light drag resistance to forward feed of said welt portion between said jaws; applying gentle operator pressure to the assembled shoe to effect forward feed of said welt portion between said jaws during said intervals of pressure relaxation so as to effect incremental feed of said welt portion between said jaws in short steps, controlled by the balancing of said drag against said operatorapplied pressure; and continuing said operations along the full perimeter of the shoe welt from the heel breast on one side to the heel breast on the other side of the shoe, and into the incurved instep areas on both sides of the shoe.

3. The method defined in claim 2, the increments of forward feed of said welt portion being equivalent to a small fraction of the width of said jaws in the direction of feed, whereby the areas of compression of the welt portion are overlapped in successive pressure impulses.

4. A method of etfecting permanent attachment of an outsole to a shoe welt, comprising the following steps: assembling the outsole to the welt with cement interposed between the face of the welt and the opposed surface of the outsole; utilizing the preliminary attachment provided by said cement to hold the outsole and welt in properly registering assembly during subsequent processing; inserting a localized area of the welt portion of the shoe composed of the welt and the opposed portion of the sole,

between a pair of pressure-applying jaws; holding one of said jaws rigidly in a stationary position while applying a series of connected pressure pulses of varying intensity with interposed intervals of pressure relaxation in which said jaws continue to engage said welt portion lightly so as to provide a light drag resistance to forward feed of said welt portion between said jaws; applying gentle operator pressure to the assembled shoe to effect forward feed of said welt portion between said jaws during said intervals of pressure relaxation so as to effect incremental feed of said welt portion between said jaws in short steps, controlled by the balancing of said drag against said operator-applied pressure; the increments of forward feed of said welt portion being equivalent to a small fraction of the width of said jaws in the direction of feed, whereb the areas of compression of the welt portion are overlapped in successive pressure impulses; each pressure impulse having a maximum intensity of the order of 250 pounds and said pressure impulses being of half-wave form, with gradual pressure rise and decline on both sides of the point of maximum pressure intensity.

5. Apparatus for effecting permanent attachment of an outsole to a shoe welt, comprising: a frame; power operated means carried by said frame for developing a series of reciprocating movements; a positive rate compression spring having one end receiving said reciprocating movements; a horn acted upon by the other end of said compression spring and receiving therefrom a plurality of pressure impulses derived from the reciprocating move ments delivered to said one end of the spring, said from having a jaw for transmitting said pressure impulses to one side of the welt portion of a shoe comprising the shoe welt and an opposed portion of the outsole; a presser foot having a jaw arranged to engage the opposite side of said welt portion for compressing the same in response to said pressure impulses; and means adjustably mounting said presser foot in said frame for adjustment toward and from said horn jaw and for rigidly supporting the foot in the adjusted position thereof, in opposition to said pressure impulses.

6. Apparatus defined in claim 5, including a shaft on which said horn is mounted, said shaft being engaged by said other end of said spring and being rotatably mounted in the frame for arcuate swinging adjustment of said horn about a pressure-application axis between three positions degrees apart, for external-welt and sole pressure application in one of said positions, for internal pressure application in a position 90 degrees from said welt-sole operating position, and for seam-ironing of a shoe counter at a position degrees from said welt-sole operating position.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said horn jaw has one side thereof cut away and offset inwardly from the remainder of that side of the horn, said inwardly offset side being registered with the tip of said presser foot in said internal pressure applying operational position.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said presser foot tip projects beyond the tip of said horn jaw in the seam-ironing position of the jaws, and wherein the area of pressure application is bounded on three sides by the margin of the horn jaw.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said presser foot tip projects beyond said pressure-application axis a distance corresponding to the width of the extended welt, and wherein the area of pressure application is determined by the width of the welt and the width of a midarea of the horn jaw across which the welt extends in the welt and sole pressure application position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,700,097 l/ 1929 Miller l2-35 .5 X 2,329,244 9/ 1943 Brandt l235.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 285,177 5/1931 Italy.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

